Deutsche Bank’s Largest Shareholder Wants Some Assurance Deutsche Bank Won't Run Itself Into The Ground

Don’t get Sheik Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani wrong: He’s thrilled to have been given the opportunity to lose €1 billion of his and his family’s money on Deutsche Bank over the last couple of years. Hell, give him the opportunity (and Deutsche Bank might just have to, since they’ve nowhere else to go), and he might just boost his already 10% stake in the bank.

And it’s not that the former Qatari prime minister is annoyed with John Cryan & co. Not particularly. He would just like to be sure that Cryan’s doing what’s necessary to both get this U.S. mortgage settlement dealt with ASAP while also not running what’s left of Deutsche Bank’s business into the ground. Cool?

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The sheik lately has sought assurances that the bank is doing everything possible to resolve looming settlements with the U.S. Justice Department while also managing the business, the people said….

They are concerned about an erosion of profits and loss of talent in key businesses like investment banking and asset management, the people say. The asset-management business has had three leaders in the past 18 months, and managers have been in the position of reassuring both clients and employees of the bank’s commitment to it, people close to it say.

The Qataris have sought assurances that Deutsche Bank executives and its supervisory board are actively weighing all options, including a sale of the asset-management business, should legal fines or other factors press them to take more-dramatic steps than planned earlier.